Every AMNH Expedition is accompanied by an expert leader who enhances our travels with their passion for the destinations we visit and their knowledge of topics as varied as anthropology, geology, biodiversity, evolution, conservation, paleontology, astronomy, and cultural history and archaeology. Along with providing a series of formal lectures, these engaging scholars are our travel companions and cultural ambassadors, available for in-depth discussion and one-on-one conversation throughout our journey.

In addition to our study leaders, special guest speakers often welcome AMNH Expedition travelers in the countries we visit with lectures and special behind-the-scenes events. Past guest speakers have included heads of state, foreign dignitaries, and world-renowned artists and scholars.

	Agnes Hsu is the Resident Scholar and Director of Arts and Culture at China Institute and an International Expert to UNESCO World Heritage Centre. She served for three years as the Special Assistant to a former U.S. Ambassador to China and Korea and was the first American graduate student to receive a special Mellon Foundation pre-doctoral fellowship for the study of ancient Chinese science at the Joseph Needham Research Institute on the grounds of Cambridge University. Dr. Hsu was on the faculty at Brown University and in 2007 was recruited by Stanford University as the Mellon Research Scholar for a special project on Rome and China; she subsequently joined China Institute in late 2008. Her research and publications have focused on cross-cultural studies of early empires. Since 2006, as an International Expert to UNESCO World Heritage Centre, she has served on the scientific committees for the Qhapag Ñan and the Continental Silk Road. She has lived and conducted fieldwork in Xinjiang (also known as Chinese Central Asia) and was the academic leader for the joint UNESCO-American Museum of Natural History Silk Road expedition to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in April 2009. She consulted and appeared in Discovery Channel's Ancient Manmade Marvels series on Chinese archaeology. "On our trip, we will learn firsthand the diverse geographies, peoples, religions and cultures of the area that was known as Terra Incognita. Along the way we will meet local archaeologists, conservationists, artists, dancers, and musicians. Our fourteen days together will be a rich and memorable sampling of the arts, cuisines, and monuments of a region that few travelers get to experience. As we travel together, I will give formal talks to provide an overall context of the geographies, histories and cultures of the region and to weave together the times and places that we will explore. I also will be delighted to speak in greater depth as we visit archaeological sites and to have informal discussions while we are in transit or enjoying local meals or beers together. The itinerary for this trip is an exciting one. We are truly in for a memorable experience, and I look forward to meeting you in Tashkent!" Tour(s): Central Asia: Along the Ancient Silk Road 2
	Alex de Voogt is curator of African Ethnology at AMNH. He has published on topics as diverse as seventh century Islam, Nubian architecture, and the history of writing systems. He is also a leading expert on the history of board games in Africa and beyond. Dr. de Voogt’s research has taken him to the Caribbean, South America, the Middle East, South and East Asia, North Africa’s Mediterranean Coast and Africa. In 2004, he directed a research expedition to the Maldive Islands and recently joined an archaeology mission in northern Sudan. On this cruise, he will discuss such topics as contacts between sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and Europe, piracy in the Mediterranean, the spread of games through northern Africa as well as the history of writing systems. The development of writing is particularly interesting for this area of the world where the Phoenicians but also the Egyptians and many lesser-known peoples have contributed to many writing systems of the West. “The first time I encountered Africa was in Stone Town, Zanzibar, on the Eastern coast. It is an exotic way to meet Africa, although the colonial history, the history of the slave trade, and political troubles have tainted its romantic color. The Western coast is equally rich in history but has a closer connection to the Africans that were transported to the Americas and still is closely related to Western Europe today. The West African cultures encountered as we travel aboard the Callisto are sure to make an enduring impression. The discovery of its peoples and landscapes are a continuous pleasure for which this trip provides an ideal starting point.” Tour(s): Undiscovered Africa Around Africa by Private Jet
	Amy Balanoff is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and holds a graduate student fellowship at the American Museum of Natural History in the department of vertebrate paleontology. Her research is focused on the evolutionary relationships of oviraptorosaur dinosaurs, fossils of which are found in North America and Central Asia. This research has taken her on numerous field expeditions into the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. She also studies the evolution of the central nervous system in theropod dinosaurs using non-destructive, digital technologies. In addition to fieldwork in Mongolia, Amy has spent many years working in the Triassic and Jurassic beds of the western United States. Ms. Balanoff received an M.S. from the University of Texas, an M.Phil. from Columbia University, and worked for several years as a research scientist in the CT facility at the University of Texas.
	Bruce Loeffler, study leader for the American Museum of Natural History, is both a geologist and an art historian. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry and has a Ph.D. in geology and an M.A. in art history both from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dr. Loeffler is Professor Emeritus of Geology and Visiting Professor of Art at Colorado College in Colorado Springs and Lecturer in Geology at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where he currently resides. An enthusiastic and gifted educator, Dr. Loeffler has taught various courses in geology, including Physical Geology, Volcanology, Earthquakes, and Plate Tectonics. In art, he has taught a variety of courses in American, Western and Non-western art. His study of volcanoes has taken him around the world, and for the past decade he has traveled with AMNH groups to the Arctic, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, Europe, Asia and Africa. Personal Comment from Bruce on "Voyages to the Classical World" “Our exploration of the Greek Islands and the coast of Turkey will provide us the opportunity to learn about the workings of our planet and about the origins of Western civilization. First, our visits to the volcanic islands of Santorini and Patmos and to the folded islands of Crete, Karpathos and Rhodes will allow us to understand the tectonics of the Aegean Plate and the origin of earthquakes and volcanoes in the circum-Mediterranean region. Second, the Mediterranean has been the locus for the great sweep of Western civilization. We will encounter the Minoan civilization (1,650-1,450 c. B.C.E) on Santorini and Crete; the Classical Greek world at Lindos, Priene and Delos (5th to 2nd century B.C.E.); the Roman Empire at Ephesus (1st to 2nd century A.C.E.); an important event in early Christianity and the 12th century Byzantine Empire on Patmos; and important chapters in the history of the conflict between Christendom and Islam on Rhodes (12th to 16th century A.C.E.). In particular, we will consider the history of religion, looking at the transition from a polytheistic to a monotheistic world, and at the later interaction of Christianity and Islam." Personal Comment from Bruce on "New Zealand" "New Zealand is a land of wonders, its dramatic landscapes and varied ecosystems shaped by the powerful forces of the Earth. The clash of two giant plates-the Pacific and the Indo-Australian-has created active volcanoes on the North Island, rugged mountains carved by glaciers on the South Island and a region of active faulting and earthquakes. We will have a chance to explore and learn about all of these geologic features. In addition to its natural wonders, we will experience and learn about Maori culture and its history and art." Tour(s): New Zealand
	Captain Alfred McLaren, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Ph.D., is an Arctic and deep-sea explorer, climate change research scientist, and former U.S. nuclear submarine commander. He has used Russian MIR submersibles to dive to the wrecks of the Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck, and has lectured on voyages to most parts of the world. Captain McLaren received his Ph.D. in the Physical Geography of the Polar Regions from the University of Colorado, has a M.Phil. in Polar Studies from Cambridge University, England, a M.S. in International Affairs from George Washington University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy. He has held teaching appointments at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and at the U.S. Naval War College. ““Although I have spent most of my life on and beneath the world’s oceans and seas, they have never lost their fascination for me, particularly the Black Sea. The coastlines and steppes surrounding this major body of water, Pontos Axeinos (“Dark or Somber Sea,” as referred to by the ancient Greeks), were inhabited by such peoples as the Cimmerians, Scythians, Amazons, and Sarmatians, and its dark and mysterious nature has fascinated and challenged seagoing explorers, traders, and colonists from the earliest of times. During our voyage together to this colorful and history-rich part of the world, I will introduce you to the ancient peoples who populated the vast shoreline of the Black Sea. We will talk about the Black Sea’s unusual evolution, its bathymetry (a measurement of depth), and the exotic marine species it nurtures. You will learn about exciting prospects for marine archaeology that are being planned, and about the influence of the Black Sea on the Danube Delta, a unique aquatic environment of highly diverse flora and fauna. And, because of its strategic location, we will take a look at some of the major maritime conflicts that have taken place on the Black Sea in recent times. I am certain that the Black Sea will not only capture and hold your imagination, but that you will long, as I have, to return to it in the future.” Tour(s): The Black Sea: Crossroads of Culture
	Carl Mehling oversees the Museum’s collection of dinosaur fossils (the largest in the world) as well as early synapsids and tetrapods, pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, and marine reptiles. He has written or edited a number of books on fossils, including some for children. His fossil hunting has taken him to the Canadian Arctic, the Gobi Desert, Patagonia, and all over the U.S. Tour(s): Digging for Dinosuars
	Carol Simon is a veteran of more than 40 AMNH Expeditions and her presentations provide in-depth insight into the natural history of the regions visited. She is broadly trained in ecology, animal behavior and evolution. Her research on the social behavior of reptiles, particularly lizards, has taken her to many areas of North and Central America, with a strong focus on fieldwork at the Museum’s Southwestern Research Station in Arizona. Dr. Simon is Professor Emerita of Biology at the City College of the City University of New York, and is a Research Associate in the Museum’s Division of Vertebrate Zoology, Herpetology. Tour(s): Patagonia
	Christopher J. Raxworthy is Associate Dean of Science for Education and Exhibition and Associate Curator in Herpetology. His research focus is on amphibian and reptile evolution and conservation and includes the applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for identifying conservation priorities, and exploring patters of speciation and endemism. He has worked with Cuban counterparts to identify new lizard species in remote regions of the island. Since 1985, Museum scientists have conducted research and cooperated on projects with Cuban scientists and educators in the fields of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, paleontology, geology, anthropology, genetics, conservation, and education. The Museum participated with Cuban and other U.S. institutions in a joint biological survey to identify and manage Cuba’s rare biological resources. Each of our Discovering Cuba’s Natural History programs is accompanied by an expert representative from the Museum, such as a scientist or curator. This departure will be accompanied by Chris Raxworthy. Tour(s): Discovering Cuba's Natural History 3
	Dennis Wm. Stevensonis Vice President for Laboratory Research and Editor of Botanical Review at the New York Botanical Garden. His recent research interests have focused upon the evolution and classification of the gymnosperms (cycads, conifers, and ginkgo) and monocots (lilies, cereals, orchids, gingers, etc.) including reproductive biology, anatomy, cytology, and molecular systematics. He is member of the Plant Genomics Consortium and conducts research with scientists at AMNH on the origin, development, and modification of the seed. “I have always been fascinated by the history of botany in the Netherlands starting with the great explorations and subsequent introductions of so many of our crop and ornamental plants via the Netherlands and its continuing development of new and exciting cultivars. I can walk where Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy as we know it, started his career. I can appreciate orange carrots as a selection to honor William of Orange for founding Leiden University. I can tour the botanical world from wild plant diversity in gardens to exciting new ornamentals by just visiting the markets, both horticultural markets and the green grocer markets. To me this is one of the most exciting botanical classrooms I have ever seen in one place.” Tour(s): Waterways of Holland and Belgium
	Dr. Ralph Garono is the Director of Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He conducted his doctoral research at the only other Great Lakes NERR site, Old Woman Creek in Ohio. Dr. Garono’s recent reports and publications include the topics of watershed assessment and restoration, nutrient biogeochemistry, remote sensing and spatial analysis, invasive species, and aquatic insect ecology. He will have much to share about the ecosystems of the Great Lakes and the prospects for their future. Tour(s): Discovering a North American Treasure
	Felicity Arengo is the Associate Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History where she helps oversee strategic planning, project development, and fundraising efforts for a portfolio of research, conservation and capacity development projects around the world. Dr. Arengo has over fifteen years of field research and project experience in Latin America. Currently she is working with colleagues throughout the Americas on flamingo and wetland research and conservation. She is also adjunct professor at Columbia University. Since 1985, Museum scientists have conducted research and cooperated on projects with Cuban scientists and educators in the fields of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, paleontology, geology, anthropology, genetics, conservation, and education. The Museum participated with Cuban and other U.S. institutions in a joint biological survey to identify and manage Cuba’s rare biological resources. Each of our Discovering Cuba’s Natural History programs is accompanied by an expert representative from the Museum, such as a scientist or curator. This departure will be lead by Felicity Arengo. Tour(s): Discovering Cuba's Natural History
	George Amato is the Director of the Sackler Institute of Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History. In addition to administering this interdepartmental scientific program of more than 70 scientists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, he continues to conduct research in conservation genetics of endangered species. He also serves as an Affiliated Professor in the Richard Gilder Graduate School and is an adjunct professor at Columbia, Yale, and Fordham Universities. Previous to joining the Museum, Dr. Amato spent seventeen years conducting conservation research and programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society, where he was the Director of Conservation and Science until 2005. He has lectured and published extensively on conservation strategies for endangered species, concentrating much of his work on the use of molecular analysis to determine conservation priorities and in developing forensic tools for monitoring the illegal trade in wildlife. Dr. Amato is involved in conservation issues on a global scale working on projects in Africa, Asia, Central America, and the Caribbean. “As a young child, I explored the world’s most wonderful and exotic places through countless hours of reading and papering my bedroom walls with maps and photos of the world’s diverse wildlife and cultures. I dreamt each night of new adventures. Now having been a biologist for thirty years and having worked and traveled in sixty countries, I am as passionate today about those travels as I was then. And, the place I keep returning to over and over again is Southern Africa. The abundant wildlife, vast landscapes and times spent around a campfire recounting the days adventures all come together to make a magical and extraordinary experience that I love to share with fellow travelers.” Tour(s): The Grand Safari: A Private Air Adventure
	Howard Topoff has spent 40 years researching the social behavior, interrelationships, and community structure of animals. His field research has been conducted in Central and South America, Africa, and at the Museum’s Southwestern Research Station in Arizona. He is Professor Emeritus of Biopsychology at Hunter College of the City University of New York. Tour(s): Patagonia
	Ian Tattersall, Curator Emeritus in the Division of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, is an expert on physical anthropology and human evolution, and has lectured on many educational expeditions throughout the world. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University. Trained in geology as well as in archaeology and anthropology, he has carried out field research on living primates and has collected fossils in countries all over the world, including Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Dr. Tattersall wrote The Fossil Trail: How We Know What We Think We Know About Human Evolution, which examines how both significant fossil finds and new theories have been used by scientists to trace the path of human evolution. One of his several recent books, Human Origins: What Bones and Genomes Tell Us About Ourselves, written with co-curator Rob DeSalle, is a companion to the Museum’s new Spitzer Hall of Human Origins, the latest in a long series of popular exhibitions he has curated. Among his books dealing with cave art and the origins of human creativity is Becoming Human: Evolution and Human Uniqueness. A Personal Statements from Ian: On Legendary Places by Private Jet “Where to start? The title of our Legendary Places trip by luxury jet hardly begins to embrace the astonishing wealth of experiences we can look forward to in an amazingly brief period of time. The name of every one of our destinations is both magical and redolent of history; and the itinerary overall encapsulates the wonderful diversity of human achievement and experience worldwide. From the sheer scale and magnificence of Libya’s Roman City of Leptis Magna, to the wild and austere beauty of Turkey’s Cappadocia, to the haunting ruins of Darius the Great’s capital in Iran, to the anomalous patch of verdant green among vast expanses of Saharan sands that is Egypt’s Siwa Oasis, and far beyond, each destination we will visit has something profound to teach us about the extraordinary human spirit. I do hope that you will join me in what will truly be the experience of a lifetime.” On the Silk Road “In many ways they are “the forgotten Asia” today, far off the beaten path. But the republics of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have fabled histories, right at the center of the great medieval network of trading routes known as the Silk Road. And the names of ancient market towns such as Samarkand, Tashkent and Bukhara still radiate the romance of an exotic and mysterious time and place, even as the newly independent nations to which they belong struggle with the complex realities of the post-Soviet world. Our tour has been designed to echo the vast sweep of Central Asia, to reflect its unique landscapes and cultures, and to capture its extraordinary resonance. I do hope that you will wish to join us on this very unusual itinerary.” On Northern Spain “The Ice Age painted caves of southern France are well known, and those still open to the public are widely visited. The Spanish decorated caves of the same period are much less frequented, yet are equally spectacular. From the stunning Altamira, at which Ice Age art was first recognized, to the jewel-like Covalanas, each exerts its own particular fascination, and no two are even remotely the same. All, though, are nestled into landscapes of extraordinary beauty. What’s more, that beauty is not of the austere, sun-scorched type one usually associates with Spain. Instead, the caves occupy the peninsula’s northern strip, a land of green, wellwatered and rolling meadows that rise inland into rugged peaks that are snowcapped in winter. This is truly the other Spain, as heavenly and individual in its cuisine as in its welcoming countryside. The Ice Age people chose their habitat well, and the art they left behind reflects this: there is, I think, no Paleolithic art style as graceful as those deft Solutrean animal images, reminders of the extraordinary creativity that our species has exhibited ever since its inception. This will be an unforgettable trip, and one that I am anticipating with the greatest pleasure.” Tour(s): Legendary Places by Private Jet Northern Spain's Prehistoric Caves
	Inge Jackson Reist is currently the Chief of Research Collections and Programs at the Frick Art Reference Library and Director of the Frick Collection’s Center for the History of Collecting in America, overseeing a broad range of public, academic, and fellowship programs. After serving as an Assistant Curator and Lecturer at the Frick from 1980-1983 and teaching at Columbia University for three years, Inge received her PhD from Columbia University in 1984. In addition to adjunct teaching at Hunter College and at Rutgers University, Inge has lectured on a broad range of topics on European Art at venues that include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Chrysler Museum, as well as The Frick Collection. Her articles and reviews have appeared in Art Bulletin, Gazette des Beaux Arts, Renaissance Quarterly, Goya, Source, Art Documentation,The IFAR Journal and the Journal for the History of Collections. “Since my childhood I have been fascinated with the ancient world. My father was a Classics scholar and took great delight in telling my brothers and me about the marvels of antiquity from statuary to plumbing and engineering. We had countless books with images of the Lion Gate at Mycenae and the bull dancers of Knossos and I happily slipped back in time through these images. Since then my studies of the art of ancient Greece and Rome have expanded, enriching my understanding of cultures of the past. I look forward to this voyage with great anticipation knowing that together we will recover and discover so many of the secrets of the ancient world.” Tour(s): Voyages to Antiquity
	James Webster is Curator in the American Museum of Natural History’s Division of Physical Sciences, Earth and Planetary Sciences. An expert in volcanic activity, Dr. Webster has worked extensively with national and international organizations including NATO and the U.S. Geological Survey in an attempt to better understand the nature of volcanoes. He has conducted research in Italy, Germany, North America and Indonesia. He is an Adjunct Research Scientist at Columbia University and was co-curator for the design of the Museum’s Hall of Planet Earth, which opened in 1999. Tour(s): Italy's Volcanoes
	Jay Austin is an Associate Professor in the Large Lakes Observatory and the Department of Physics at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. He holds a doctorate in Physical Oceanography from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. His current research interests address year-to-year variability in lake temperature, the role that ice plays in mid- to high-latitude lakes, and the impact of climate on large lakes around the world. He will be discussing some of the science behind how lakes work and some of the contemporary challenges facing them. Tour(s): From the St. Lawrence River to Chicago
	Jay Holmes joined the American Museum of Natural History in 1992, after receiving his BS in geology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is Senior Coordinator for Teacher Professional Development for the Urban Advantage Middle School Science Initiative lead by the Museum. He has been Coordinator of the Museum's After School Program for high school students and coordinator of YouthCaN, an international environmental youth program. Mr. Holmes leads hikes and whale watch trips for the museum, conducts teacher workshops, and writes curricula covering a variety of geology and environmental science subjects. Jay looks forward to leading this journey to a land of fire and ice.. Tour(s): Iceland Family Adventure Thoughts from Jay on Iceland Family Adventure “Iceland is a magical place of ocean, ice and lava where the summer days stretch at the very edge of the Arctic Circle, the sun is up for over 20 hours! It’s a unique place in the world, especially in the eyes of geologists. Here the longest chain of mountains in the world, the mid-ocean ridge system, comes to the surface due to the rare convergence of a rift zone and the added magma of a hot spot plume rising from deep in the earth. This mix of arctic climate and molten rock gives rise to a world of glaciers and volcanoes in the middle of the ocean. We will explore the ocean, rivers, geysers, glaciers and volcanoes, by kayak, raft, foot and horse. Bring your binoculars for the puffins, gannets and whales, and your cameras to capture it all. Then, as if the reality of the day is not exciting enough, we will travel back in time through stories of Icelandic trolls and Viking history. I look forward to seeing you in the shadow of Eyjafjallajökull!”
	John Grant is a production executive and television producer and is a production consultant and Chief Program Officer for WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto. His company, Driftwood Productions, has produced more than 60 hours of primetime programming for PBS. He was senior vice president of programming at PBS and spent 16 years at WPSU-TV at Penn State. His television productions have focused on American history and scenic places. Grant has written or co-authored many companion books to his television series, including Niagara Falls: An Intimate Portrait. In 2007 Grant received a National Daytime Emmy for his work as executive producer on the Reading Rainbow series. Additional study leaders will soon be announced. Tour(s): Great Lakes Grand Discovery
	Jonathan Cooley received a B.A. in paleo-biology from the University of Colorado and a M.S. in geology from Montana State University. He has taught paleontology and geology field techniques at field schools in Montana and Colorado, and has accompanied expeditions to such exotic dinosaur localities as Valley of the Moon, Argentina; the Gobi Desert, Outer Mongolia; and the north slope of Alaska. Tour(s): Digging for Dinosaurs
	Kristine M. Trego is an assistant professor of classics at Bucknell University. Dr. Trego has worked in Turkey as an underwater archaeologist with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology for the past eleven years, and her archaeological research focuses on the crews’ equipment aboard ancient Greek and Roman ships. Additionally, she lectures and publishes on narrative and rhetorical techniques in ancient Greek and Roman writings. Tour(s): Voyage to the Lands of Gods and Heroes
	Laila Williamson is Senior Scientific Assistant in the Division of Anthropology at AMNH. Specializing in Tibetan Buddhism, she has worked extensively with the Museum's Asian ethnographic collections relating to the cultures of India, Tibet, Mongolia, and Bhutan. She has assisted the department’s India curator in researching and publishing over 20 books and articles on rural life, culture, and festivals in North India and has gained first-hand experience on life in India during her travels in North and South India. Tour(s): Southwestern China and Tibet
	Meg Domroese is an environmental educator and communicator. In her 15-year career at the Museum’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation she has worked with scientists to apply their research to conservation. This has taken her to field locations including national parks in Madagascar, Guatemala, Bolivia, The Bahamas, and British Columbia, as well as New York City’s fantastic parks. There she developed and led partnerships with local organizations to promote participation in conservation by training educators and resource managers in teaching and communicating about biodiversity; collaborating on exhibition development; and supporting community conservation projects. A Personal Comment from Meg on Yellowstone in Winter “As the first designated national park, Yellowstone holds a special place in the history of conservation in the United States. And the park continues to be a place where conservation philosophies and strategies are created and put to the test. Millions of people enjoy the iconic sights of the park each year and wolves, bears, bison and other wildlife have a protected home. Use and protection are sometimes at odds. The continually evolving ecological and political landscape weaves a fascinating story of the human side of nature. Join me to step into the Yellowstone ecosystem at this less-traveled time of year. Enjoy the breath-taking beauty of this winter wonderland as we touch the edge of wilderness.”
	Michael Shara is Curator of the Museum's Astrophysics Department. His research interests include the evolution and explosions of novae and supernovae, hunting for planets orbiting other stars, and the populations of stars inhabiting dense clusters and galaxies. He frequently observes with the Hubble Space Telescope and other large ground-based telescopes. An avid stargazer since childhood, Dr. Shara regularly guides audiences across the night sky, combining the mythology of constellations with the evolution of galaxies and the universe. On Hawaii's Observatories “Many astronomers, myself included, feel that Hawaii is as close to heaven as you can get. Of course there are gorgeous beaches, tropical rainforests, and some of the newest land on Earth, generated by copious lava fl ows. But for astronomers it’s the night skies at the summits of Haleakala and Mauna Kea that draw us back again and again. Above the clouds that block out the lights of coastal towns we’ll visit the world’s most sophisticated observatories. At the top of Mauna Kea we’ll be almost halfway out of Earth’s atmosphere, and our plan is to observe planets, star clusters, and galaxies with a clarity unmatched anywhere else on our planet.” On Heaven & Earth “Long before the age of electric lights our distant ancestors looked at the night sky in wonder, and asked many of the questions we ask today: What are the stars? How far away are they? Why do a few of the brightest stars (the planets) move, while the majority are at rest? Is there life elsewhere in the Universe? What is our place in the Universe? We’ll be visiting places with cultures seemingly light years apart. Remarkably, though, these cultures posed the same, universal questions about the Heavens and the Earth that astrophysicists wrestle with today. My lectures will try to answer for you some of these provocative questions. Weather permitting, we’ll stargaze at Ayers Rock where I’ll point out some of the splendors of the Southern Skies, including our nearest extragalactic neighbors, the Magellanic Clouds. A highlight will be the total solar eclipse we plan to witness in Queensland on November 13, 2012.” Tour(s): Heaven and Earth with the Total Solar Eclipse Note: Dr. Shara will join the trip in Australia and continue until its conclusion. Hawaii's Observatories
	Pamela Kachurin is an art historian specializing in Russian and Soviet art and architecture and currently teaches at Duke University. Dr. Kachurin is an experienced museum lecturer, having given gallery tours for many years at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and is the curator of that institution’s exhibition of Soviet-era textiles. She counts herself fortunate to have spent time in the Soviet Union before 1991 and to have witnessed the remarkable changes since then. Dr. Kachurin has authored numerous articles, book reviews and encyclopedia essays on Russian and Soviet Art. She is the Smithsonian Journeys – AMNH Expeditions expert on this cruise and will be joined by two other lecturers. Tour(s): Russian Waterways
	Ron Wixman is a specialist in world cultural geography and is well-versed in both the ancient and modern societies of the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. He recently retired from the University of Oregon where he taught courses on the rise of cultures and civilizations, traditional ways of life, food culture and cuisine, and geopolitics. He specialized in multi-culturalism on a global as well as regional scale and on the politics involved in these issues. Dr. Wixman has lived in villages and studied the cultures of the peoples in the Balkans; traveled with and interviewed mujahedeen fighters and leaders during the A fghan-Soviet War; traveled extensively in the Middle East; lived and studied in the Soviet Union; and conducted research in East, South, and Southeast Asia. Dr. Wixman is the author of The Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook and Language Aspects of Ethnic Patterns and Processes in the North Caucasus, as well as many articles on Soviet nationality policy. He also has been a consultant with a number of American and foreign government offices dealing with ethnic and religious conflict, and has lectured at many universities around the world. During this trip, Dr. Wixman’s lecture topics will include culture, politics, and history of Russia and the former Soviet Republics. Tour(s): Beijing to Moscow by Private Rail The Baltic Oddyssey
	Sidney Horenstein is a geologist and recently retired as Coordinator of Environmental Public programs at the American Museum of Natural History after 40 years with the institution. He was also an adjunct lecturer in geology at the City University of New York for 25 years and is the natural history consultant to the Bronx County Historical Society. Sid continues to lead field trips to diverse areas in New York State including the greater metropolitan area and the Hudson River Valley. He also lectures at the AMNH on a variety of natural history subjects. He has been involved with American Museum Expeditions since 1985 and has led trips to the Americas, Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, the Arctic, and North Africa. A Personal Statement from Sydney on the Pacific Northwest... For me, geology forms the basis of many aspects of the world we live in and my interest extends to soils and the plants they support and the fauna that the plants support; to the cultures of the people that are partly determined by the lay of the land; why the locks on the Columbia and Snake Rivers are where they are; and travails of the early pioneers as they explored and travelled westward. But foremost for me on the trip I will help you understand why there is such a huge accumulation of volcanic material in the Pacific Northwest, unlike any other part of the United States; the dynamic forces that led to formation and eruption of Mount St. Helens; and the torrential floods that carved the Columbia River Gorge. So, as we travel together, you will find that geology is surpassingly intuitive, accessible and concrete and often it has the excitement of a never-ending detective story that contains the clues and evidence of the complex geology of the Pacific Northwest and, in fact, everywhere you may travel in the future. Tour(s): The Pacific Northwest The North America's Enchanting Seaway From the Saint Lawrence River to Coastal Maine
	Stephen Clancy is a Professor and Chair of the Art History department at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. Professor Clancy teaches the history of Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance art and architecture, as well as courses on visual persuasion and the rhetoric of art. His research career began with a focus on fifteenth-century French and Flemish illuminated manuscripts. He also worked with a team of students to investigate how technology can open up new avenues for understanding the art and architecture of the distant past, in a project entitled "Virtual Chartres Cathedral" (http://www.ithaca.edu/chartres). Recently he was a Visiting Fellow at the Australia National University, investigating the roles that images play in shaping cultural identity, in a project entitled "Visualizing the Self and Others: Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Medieval Iberia." A current research and course-development project – entitled "Making Jewish Art History" – has taken him to a number of medieval Jewish cultural sites in Germany and France where the past is being reinvented in interesting and sometimes controversial ways. Also accompanying your expedition will be historian, author, and lecturer Peter Lauritzen, and Bryn Mawr professor emerita Dale Kinney. Mr. Lauritzen will discuss Venetian influence on life and art throughout the eastern Mediterranean from the formation of the Republic to the surrender of Cyprus and Crete to the Ottoman Turks. Professor Kinney will explain about the late antique and Byzantine art and architecture that will be encountered. “My first trip to the Eastern Mediterranean was as a seven-year-old, walking the dirt streets of a small village south of Corinth where my great aunt lived. I've traveled in the region many times since then – including as a Study Leader on trips with AMNH Expeditions – but I never tire of its spectacular scenery and its rich and accessible cultural heritage. We will be visiting some of the most exciting sites of the Mediterranean basin, including enigmatic Venice, where the Middle Ages and Renaissance come alive along the maze of alleyways and canals; the beautiful Dalmatian coast, whose art and architecture were born from centuries of interaction between east and west; the intimidating Venetian, Byzantine, and Ottoman fortresses that dot the coasts of Greece and Turkey; and the stunningly sited Greco-Roman city of Kourion on Cyprus, with its colorful mosaics and Roman theatre overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It promises to be a truly enchanting journey through a treasure trove of cultures from the Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance worlds.” Tour(s): Venice, The Dalmatian Coast, and Eastern Mediterranean
	Steve Quinn - Senior Project Manager for Exhibitions at the American Museum of Natural History. Stephen C. Quinn oversees all aspects of new diorama creation—including field expeditions, exhibit fabrication, and installation—as well as diorama conservation and restoration. He was a project leader for the 1995 field expedition to the Central African Republic, which resulted in the rain forest diorama in the museum’s Hall of Biodiversity and was a project manager for the 2003 renovation of the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. Mr. Quinn provided the illustrations for the 1994 book What Color is That Dinosaur? by Lowell Dingus, and was co-author of Inside the Dzanga-Sangha Rain Forest (1998) and author of Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History (2006). He has been a member of the Society of Animal Artists since 1978 and a member of Artists for Conservation since it’s founding. Tour(s): Ireland & The British Isles Antarctica: Expedition to an Ethereal World
	Susan Perkins, Associate Curator in the Museum’s Division of Invertebrate Zoology, is an evolutionary parasitologist who studies the taxonomy, systematics, population genetics, molecular evolution, genomics and biogeography of malaria parasites. Dr. Perkins’ research has involved extensive fieldwork throughout the Caribbean and is interested in malaria parasite evolution in lizards found in Cuba. Since 1985, Museum scientists have conducted research and cooperated on projects with Cuban scientists and educators in the fields of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, paleontology, geology, anthropology, genetics, conservation, and education. The Museum participated with Cuban and other U.S. institutions in a joint biological survey to identify and manage Cuba’s rare biological resources. Each of our Discovering Cuba’s Natural History programs is accompanied by an expert representative from the Museum, such as a scientist or curator. This Cuba departure will be accompanied by Susan. Tour(s): Discovering Cuba's Natural History Treasures of Central America: Belize and Guatemala
	Tony Coates is a geologist and Senior Scientist Emeritus with the Smithsonian Institution. He is the former Director of Scientific Research Programs at the Smithsonian Institution and the former Deputy Director of the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute located in Panama, and has taught Geology at George Washington University for more than 20 years. Currently, he is working with a team of scientists to unravel the geological history of the Panamanian isthmus. His research also takes him around the world to study the evolution of coral reef systems. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Caen, France. Tour(s): Around the World by Private Jet